The arrest over the long Labor Day weekend of veteran Democratic campaign treasurer Kinde Durkee on suspicion of mail fraud sent shock waves through the Democratic political establishment. Durkee, who is expected to have a federal court appearance today, has been at the center of scores of campaigns' finances for decades. The OC Register's Brian Joseph has the story.
"As first reported by the Orange County Register on Saturday, Durkee, a campaign treasurer for many California Democrats, was arrested by the FBI on suspicion of mail fraud. Durkee’s clients include at least 113 committees at the state level as well as federal clients, including U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein."
"On Saturday, O.C. State Sen. Lou Correa, another Durkee client, told the Register that after speaking with the FBI about Durkee’s arrest he believes he has lost “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in campaign funds."
"Solorio, a Santa Ana Democrat, sent an email to his supporters Sunday titled “I’ve Been Robbed. The FBI Has Arrested My Treasurer.”
One way to come up with money to pay for critically needed transportation projects is a state proposal to let the locals charge more for gas, then use the extra money to finance highways and transit programs. But not everybody is signing up.
From Doug Begley in the Press-Enterprise: "A bill in the state Assembly, if approved, would allow planning agencies such as San Bernardino Associated Governments and the Riverside County Transportation Commission to ask voters to approve a gas levy. The charge, placed on each gallon of gasoline purchased in the county, would pay for road maintenance, increased transit offerings and upgrades to bicycle and pedestrian routes and amenities..."
"The best way to get real congestion reduction is to emphasize these other options," said Graham Brownstein, state policy director for TransForm, a public policy group pushing for more transit and bicycle routes. "With this, we have a way for communities to fund needed improvements both for transit and for road maintenance. The backlog on road maintenance is staggering."
"The bill, amended late last week to include the gas levy provision, must move quickly through Sacramento if it is to become law anytime soon. The current legislative session ends in one week."
Gov. Jerry Brown is taking a look at changes in his corporate tax swap plan in hopes of reaching agreement with lawmakers before the end of the session on Friday.
From Anthony York in the LA Times: "Although no final deal has been reached, the outline of a possible agreement began to emerge Monday. Like Brown's original plan, it involves changing a 2009 law so that corporations could no longer choose which formula to use when calculating their state tax liability."
"But instead of Brown's original plan, which used the estimated $1.1 billion the change is expected to generate on new tax credits for businesses that hire California workers or buy new equipment, the new proposal would include more sweeping changes to the state's business taxes."
"Among the concepts being pushed by Republicans are tax cuts for corporations that pay personal income tax instead of corporate tax. The plan also includes reductions in the corporate tax rate for smaller businesses."
Money is power, especially in the Capitol, and that point is made again as information seeps out about how some $250 million is spent annually on the Legislature's administration.
From Jim Sanders in the Sacramento Bee: "You don't need to see the documents to know that life in the California Legislature is governed by power. But as the curtain lifts on how the institution doles out more than $250 million each year, it's clear that leaders – particularly in the lower house – can use money to keep members in line."
"The systems vary between the Assembly and Senate, but both houses pad legislators' staffs by millions of dollars through the assignment of committee chairs – or slash funds just as quickly by taking such plums away."
"In an era of term limits and campaign finance restrictions, office budgets are among the few remaining leadership hammers, said Garry South, a Democratic political strategist. "These leaders just don't have a lot of tools to deal with anymore, and to the degree that they don't, all subtlety is lost," South said.
A new poll shows that Californians are not happy with the direction the country is taking, and about half think that government spending should be cut -- findings that don't bode well for President Obama on the release of his new jobs plan.
From Shane Goldmacher in the LA Times: "California voters are increasingly downcast about the direction of the country, but — like their leaders in Washington — many would rather adhere to party orthodoxy than compromise to address the current economic problems, a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll shows."
"With California unemployment mired at 12%, the electorate is clearly dissatisfied with the status quo. Nearly 3 in 4 voters say the country is on the wrong track, up sharply from the 55% who felt that way in November 2009."
"We're going to hell in a handbasket, what can I say," said Esther Morales, 68, a Republican poll respondent who lives in a retirement community in Indio. She scoffed at the term "retirement," however, pointing out that most of her neighbors still have to work odd jobs to make ends meet: "We're on the fast track to nowhere."
Finally from our "Stud Muffin" file comes the tale of the guy who's fathered some 150 children, and another who needs an Excel spreadsheet to keep track.
"Today there are 150 children, all conceived with sperm from one donor, in this group of half siblings, and more are on the way. “It’s wild when we see them all together — they all look alike,” said Ms. Daily, 48, a social worker in the Washington area who sometimes vacations with other families in her son’s group."
"As more women choose to have babies on their own, and the number of children born through artificial insemination increases, outsize groups of donor siblings are starting to appear. While Ms. Daily’s group is among the largest, many others comprising 50 or more half siblings are cropping up on Web sites and in chat groups, where sperm donors are tagged with unique identifying numbers."
"Now, there is growing concern among parents, donors and medical experts about potential negative consequences of having so many children fathered by the same donors, including the possibility that genes for rare diseases could be spread more widely through the population. Some experts are even calling attention to the increased odds of accidental incest between half sisters and half brothers, who often live close to one another."
There's a Foxworthy joke here somewhere...